Meet the team

We are a volunteer-powered organisation! Our amazing volunteers devote their time to facilitating gatherings, raising funds and organising events, along with countless other activities that keep us going. To find out how you can be a part of this team, click here.

Our volunteers are supported by core staff and a board of directors.

Our staff

Katerina Gaita | director

Katerina is a climate communicator specialising in community engagement. Her passion and expertise are in helping everyday people understand the problem and challenges we face in climate change, then inspiring and empowering them to make a difference. Katerina has more than eight years’ experience in behaviour change and in project and business management, including founding and growing a small sustainability business from conception to one with more than 200 clients and 30 staff over four years.

Zey Basarin | program manager

Zey was previously the national program manager of the award-winning Start Smart Program run by ChangeLabs (now Karrikins Group), a company dedicated to designing and executing large-scale, face-to-face behaviour-change programs. During her time with Start Smart, Zey personally facilitated more than 2,000 workshops with more than 50,000 students. She was also involved in developing program content and training other facilitators. Zey brings to Climate for Change an infectious passion for engaging others on climate change and a drive to make the world a better place for all.

Serena Davies | community organiser

Serena has a Bachelor’s degree in Criminology and lived and worked overseas before returning to Australia in 2016. Her volunteer experience includes managing a dog shelter in Spain and tutoring refugee children in Fitzroy. She first joined Climate for Change as a facilitator and now manages our database of more than 500 volunteers. She hopes to be part of a discussion that makes clear both the crises and the opportunities that climate change presents.

Jackson Peck | fundraising coordinator

Jackson has been a passionate advocate for a fairer world since a wise person told him that you don't have to have decades of experience or be in a position of influence to make a difference. For the past seven years he has volunteered and worked in fundraising and campaigning roles for Oaktree and World Vision and is particularly passionate about empowering people to take action on the issues they care about. Jackson has an Honours degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of Western Australia and is completing a Master's of Journalism at Monash University.

Jeremy Dore | administration assistant

Jeremy is a lawyer by training and advises carbon projects at not-for-profit Aboriginal Carbon Fund. Jeremy undertook Climate Reality leadership training in 2014 and was impressed by the passionate and authentic presentation Katerina made at a recruitment session for Climate for Change soon after. He joined Climate for Change as a volunteer in 2015 and currently assists with bookkeeping and building up our administration systems.

Our board

Katerina Gaita | director

See staff bio (above) for details.

Luke Giuliani | chair

Passionate about using technology to make the world better, Luke is a social entrepreneur who has started numerous projects and businesses. These include Squareweave, a web company making the world better with technology; Grace, a cafe in Fitzroy; OurSay, a social enterprise connecting citizens to decision makers; and The Fitzroy Academy of Getting Shit Done, a project to teach people how to work on ideas that don’t even exist yet.

Catherine Symons | secretaryCatherine is a barrister and has a Masters of Law, specialising in workplace relations. Catherine practises predominantly in employment, discrimination, administrative and commercial law. In 2008 Catherine was awarded the Justice Pagone Prize for Tax Disputes and Written Advocacy. Catherine is also a sessional instructor in administrative and federal court practice at the Leo Cussen Institute and was previously a law tutor to students at Ormond College, University of Melbourne.

Justin White | treasurerJustin helps organisations create value through strategy development, conceptual innovation and outcomes delivery. He is motivated to help build lasting competitive advantage by re-thinking how business is done - encompassing environmental responses, social responsibilities and economic growth.

Lena Herrera Piekarski

Lena is a fundraising officer at Environment Victoria. Lena comes from Germany, where she spent three years as the national director of Campus Grun, an umbrella organisation for over 50 green groups in universities across Germany. Prior to that, she worked with the NGO, Climate Action Network Europe.

Imogen Jubb

Imogen is a communications specialist, climate-change advisor and Climate Reality leader. She has worked with Australian Conservation Foundation, Bureau of Meteorology and the CSIRO, including co-authoring reports with some of Australia's leading climate-change scientists. She is a parent of young children and passionate about strategies that will work our way to a sustainable world.

Penny Pellier-Cuit

Penny is a former corporate lawyer turned successful network marketer. In 2012, Penny became an Arbonne independent consultant and was promoted to national vice president, Arbonne's top-level of management, in just over 18 months.

Tom Duggan

Tom has been an environmentalist all his life and a fundraiser for the last 13 years. Currently the fundraising manager (RG, community, digital) at Plan International, he has previously worked as the direct marketing manager at Peter Mac Cancer Foundations and looked after Australian Conservation Foundation's individual donor programs. In his spare time, he is turning his old house into something beautiful and sustainable.